Hosea XVII

I just finished reading the section in 1 Kings 8 where Solomon dedicates his newly built temple to the Lord. Given what we have read so far in Hosea, his words take on a kind of prophetic tone, given what we know comes after this time in Israel's history. Hosea's words have an echo of what Solomon said the day he dedicated the temple.  

Let me quickly summarize what Solomon said.  The starting point is always the exodus from Egypt, because that is the birthday of the children of Israel as a nation.  God used Abraham as a founding father of the people; Moses as a deliverer of the people; Joshua as a conqueror for the people and David as a king over the people. 

A beginning. A deliverance. A victory. A promise. A legacy.

David's rule carried with it a promise that Nathan had revealed many years ago to him from the Lord: "I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever” (1 Chron.17:14).  Solomon repeats this promise God made in his temple dedication prayer (1 Kings 8:25-26).

But the promise is predicated on obedience on the part of the people and the kings to follow: 

“Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done’ (1 Kings 8:25).

We know how David's legacy was fulfilled in Messiah Jesus, irrespective of how the children of Israel adhered to the covenant. We know that because in this huge sweep of history, where the people's and the kings' disobedience was the norm, God never waxed or waned in His commitment to the covenant. His covenant reflects what He promised David and his descendants: It is everlasting.  The Son of David, who reigns forever and ever, has fulfilled the promise.  

God was faithful to the point of sending His own Son to die for the disobedience of His people and everyone on earth. 

Solomon then keys into the true foundation of the temple: Kings and people must be obedient to the covenant.  Period. The future kings and their flagrant disobedience will be as abhorrent to God as what the people will do, perhaps even more so.  Hosea will angrily assert that what the kings do, the people mimic. The kings know better and thus should do better.  But, they will not.   

Solomon precedes to remind the people that this temple, raised to glorify God's name, is a visible reminder of how a people under Yahweh should behave. If someone is accused for wronging another, then the accuser and the accused will be judged in front of the altar, and God will mete out the sentence (1 Kings 8:31-2). 

In other words, justice will prevail because it matters deeply to God.

If Israel is defeated in war because of their sin, and they pray to God, who inhabits the temple, God will forgive them and return to them their land (33-34). 

No rain?  Plague?  Famine?  Why?  Disobedience!  Then turn toward the Temple, repent and pray. Because God is about forgiveness and restoration (35-37). 

Sound familiar?  Hosea constantly calls the people to repentance so that they may be forgiven and restored. 

Prayer is an humbling of a sinner before a loving and just God. Solomon says:

"...and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple—then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors" (38-40). 

Lovely. Prayer is a way to acknowledge culpability and also the need to be forgiven. 

“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy; for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace" (46-51).

Hosea is preaching to a people who will go into that very scenario. But that raises an interesting question.  Do they pick Plan A:  God will hear their contrite prayers, directed towards the Temple, and He causes their enemies to be more merciful. Will they find their experience similar to the time their ancestors had in Egypt, where the captivity not only refined their wicked hearts but equally showed them the mighty God that they will serve?   

Or do they pick Plan B:  Will the time in Assyria, once the people are carried off, cause their prayers and hearts to not change but still be beholden to the ways and gods of the pagans?  

In other words, will the experience of exile refine them of define them?  Did they look towards the Temple (that will be destroyed sadly by another enemy a few hundred years later) and being reminded of who God is, are convicted about their wicked ways and seek repentance?  

In other words, does the experience refine them?  

Or does the experience define them as they adapt into the culture?  

The Samaritans are a result of the foreigners moving into the area--a policy of the Assyrians with their conquered peoples--and the Israelites.  The Jews viewed them as half-breeds and had nothing but contempt for them.  They built a temple on Mt. Gerizim and they would not go to the Temple in Jerusalem.  The Jews would have scorned them if they did. 

They had only the first five books of the Torah.  That's why the encounter between Jesus and the woman at the well is so instructive.  He talks of not being so concerned about where you worship, but how you worship: in Spirit and in truth.  The woman is restored by Jesus because He treated her with love and respect, and He showed that the kingdom of God included everyone.     

How many Samaritans clung to the old ways in their exile and how many were completely commandeered by the culture?  How many did the best they could with their limited understanding? 

Interesting and convicting:  Will our experiences refine us or define us? 

Our life in Christ hinges on this:  Do we repent, pray, seek Him and live (albeit an imperfect) life or do we become indistinguishable from the culture we inhabit?  Or do we do the best we can until we encounter Jesus and see the world through a new and liberating lens?  

  

Hosea XVI

I think that when we press so hard for something that is contrary to God's ways and is deleterious to our life in Christ, God gently but sadly says, "If you really want this, go ahead.  I will be waiting until you return. I will not support your sin, but I will be here to cleanse and forgive you when you realize just how far you have moved away from Me."

Not only did the Israelites engage in the practices of the Canaanites, they sought alliances with both Assyria and Egypt.  So, in other words, their national and personal life was dictated by people who were as far removed from Yahweh as they could possibly be. 

God tells the people: 

You may no longer stay here in the Lord’s land.
Instead, you will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria you will eat food
that is ceremonially unclean.
There you will make no offerings of wine to the Lord.
None of your sacrifices there will please him.
They will be unclean, like food touched by a person in mourning.
All who present such sacrifices will be defiled.
They may eat this food themselves,
but they may not offer it to the Lord. (Hosea 9:3-4)

Do you sense that God is saying that if the Israelites want so badly to be like these nations, He will allow them one day to be exiled to one of them?  Every aspect of their life will change.  And not for the better. 

Here is an excellent commentary on this:

In the ancient Near East, forming treaties or alliances was a common survival strategy. Neighboring states frequently sought treaties to protect each other’s trade routes, maintain peace, and defend against powerful empires such as Assyria and Egypt. Archaeological texts and reliefs from Assyria (e.g., the annals of Sennacherib) attest that smaller nations often paid tribute or entered alliances to avoid conquest. By human logic, Israel’s desire to join these alliances might appear prudent.

However, Hosea points out that Israel’s fundamental error was not the mere act of survival negotiation, but rather abandoning trust in the God who had already delivered them historically. This breach of covenant loyalty becomes a central theme in Hosea’s prophecy. [1]

Prudent, yes. Depending on God? No. 

But what's the big deal?  God has proven Himself utterly reliable in taking care of His people.  Exodus is a story of His unwavering care and protection. The Israelites faced the superpower of the ancient world. The children of Israel encountered an impediment every step of the way once Moses arrived and started telling Pharoah to let the people go.  Each and every hindrance was overcome by Yahweh because of His covenantal relationship with His people: 

From the earliest days, Israel was set apart as a people who would rely on God’s protection and guidance. Passages such as Exodus 19:5-6 portray Israel’s calling to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” pointing to the central role of obedience in their relationship. Deuteronomy 17:14-20 also provides guidance for Israel’s future kings, urging them not to place ultimate trust in chariots, horses, or foreign alliances, but to depend on the Lord.

Israel’s covenant with Yahweh was thus unique. Rather than forging diplomatic ties that often brought pagan influences (for instance, the worship of foreign deities or reliance on idolatrous practices), Israel was to display unwavering fidelity. In Hosea, when God condemns the people for “hiring among the nations,” it illustrates their misplaced faith-seeking security in foreign powers instead of in the One who sustained them. [2]

God even relented when the people asked for a king later in their history.  Despite the request, God found a king after His own heart to lead His people.  But David remembered the covenant; he did not ignore it or think he was more powerful than Yahweh.  He knew it was Yahweh alone for his nation. 

Even with all of that history of God's faithfulness, the people in Hosea's day still sought alliances with godless nations to protect them and secure them a safe future.

The big deal is sadly simple:  Ally yourself with the world and it will eventually take over. Why?  Because, for the world, it is not about alliance but dominance. 

Weird analogy, but bear with me.  Think about Christmas.  The core of Christmas is Christ.  But that has slowly been eroded, leaving it a time of galloping capitalism. It's all about gifts and decor, steeped in bling, pride and What did I get? 

It can be a delightful time, but where is Jesus in all of this?  

It's hard to find Him in this holiday season. Why do people care so much about removing Christ-centered symbols or nativities from public spaces?

We ally with the culture by saying, Hey!  Let's celebrate the season in a diversity of ways!  You got trees, I've got a nativity scene!  You sing "Holly Jolly Christmas" and I sing, "The First Noel."  

No.  The culture wants to dominate the season, and has shaped Christmas in its own image: Gimme, gimme, gimme. 

Yes, I know. There are sincere Christians who take the time for what it is: To celebrate the Light of the World who came and who still comes to illuminate the darkness all around us. 

But.  

Over the years, it has gotten harder and harder to find Christ in all the noise.

Only one holiday has been even more subsumed under the culture:  Easter. The most earth-shattering moment in history--where death lost its sting--and what do we get?  Bunnies.  Eggs. Candy. 

Wow. 

Not everyone in Israel rushed off to a high place to enact a pagan ritual; but those in charge sought out  pagan nations to guarantee their safely and to avoid conflict.   

They did not get either. 

Those today who speak God's truth to power get the same reaction Israel's prophets got: 

The time of Israel’s punishment has come;
the day of payment is here.
Soon Israel will know this all too well.
Because of your great sin and hostility,
you say, “The prophets are crazy
and the inspired men are fools!”
The prophet is a watchman over Israel for my God,
yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes.
He faces hostility even in the house of God.
The things my people do are as depraved
as what they did in Gibeah long ago.
God will not forget.
He will surely punish them for their sins. (Hosea 9:7-9) 

We see God's heart in these next verses: 

The Lord says, “O Israel, when I first found you,
it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert.
When I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season.
But then they deserted me for Baal-peor,
giving themselves to that shameful idol.
Soon they became vile,
as vile as the god they worshiped." (9:10)

A broken heart. A grieving heart.  A heart that cannot and will not tolerate sin, but Who also wants His children to ally with Him and Him alone. 

Sadly, Hosea ends the chapter with chilling and yet grief-filled words:

My God will reject the people of Israel
because they will not listen or obey.
They will be wanderers,
homeless among the nations. (9:17)

Are we, as our country slides ever deeper in a pagan mindset that results in a way of life that doesn't  reflect God's values, expecting a different outcome? 

God is always willing to receive us into His forgiveness, but we must want it more than what the world has to offer. 

[1] "Why is Israel Condemned for Alliances?" https://biblehub.com/q/why_is_israel_condemned_for_alliances.htm

[2] Ibid. 

   

Hosea XV

Let's move through chapter 8 with some key passages that are equally relevant for us. 

8 Sound the alarm!
The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the Lord,
for they have broken my covenant
and revolted against my law.
Now Israel pleads with me,
‘Help us, for you are our God!’
But it is too late.
The people of Israel have rejected what is good,
and now their enemies will chase after them.
The people have appointed kings without my consent,
and princes without my approval.
By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold,
they have brought about their own destruction. (1-4)

When we no longer include God in our lives, by acting in harmony with His covenant and His kingdom, and we trade our liberty in Christ for the security of the world's approval, can we expect anything different from what the northern kingdom experienced in Hosea's day? 

Yes, he prophesied for 30 years, and yes, their apostasy didn't incur judgment right away, and yes, God is infinitely patient, but at some point God will say, "Game over."

It's hard to identify your enemies if you are acting like them.  If you are compromising your kingdom of God values to have the world approve of you, then when your enemies show up, they will look, sound and act like you do.  How could they be enemies, right? 

One of the reasons the Nazis were so successful in seducing the people was they spoke aloud what a lot of people felt: that Germany should not have lost the Great War of 1914-1918.  The only "logical" explanation was: Those who were hiding in the shadows had undermined the war effort.  Hitler pointed to the Jews and identified them as the cause; because of the long history of antisemitism in Germany, that explanation did not seem farfetched. It made sense to a people who, while they may not have thought in such extremes as Hitler, felt he was onto something. Others, because they already thought the Jews were evil schemers, didn't question what he said. They didn't see the inherent evil in what he said because they felt the same way.  

We don' t question those people who think like we do.  Why would we?  We pride ourselves on being right and so those who agree with us?  They must be right, too. So, if your enemies want to ingratiate themselves into your world, they tap into what you already partially or fully believe. Maybe not the things you say everyday, but they tap into your deep assumptions about how the world works. 

Enemies also tone down the rhetoric, until that rhetoric has marinated in the society for a while, and then the ideas don't sound so, well, extreme. 

Maybe a lot of Germans didn't quite buy everything that Hitler was selling, but they bought enough to allow more and more of his "information" to take over their thinking.

The enemies of Israel (the northern kingdom) said what the Israelites wanted to hear: many gods were acceptable; Yahweh couldn't be the only god; He wasn't reliable or powerful enough to protect them; they needed local allies who were powerful and strong to stand by them and the Israelites had pleased the gods with their devotion to all those rituals. 

These were their enemies.  But the Israelites didn't recognize that until it was too late. The Israelites had shown themselves to be fervent followers of pagan religions. So their enemies looked like them. 

If you can relate and even see yourself in them, how can they be enemies?  

The kings and princes that they sought security from, and the idols they fashioned with their own hands, blunted their ability to see evil for what it was. How so? Think of how Hitler used lying to achieve his ends:

The big lie is the name of a propaganda technique, originally coined by Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf, who says “The great masses of the people... will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one,” and denotes where a known falsehood is stated and repeated and treated as if it is self-evidently true, in hopes of swaying the course of an argument in a direction that takes the big lie for granted rather than critically questioning it or ignoring it...Various sources, both popular and scholarly, attribute the following passage to Joseph Goebbels on the big lie: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield  the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” [1] 

The Israelites believed the lie that their security was to be found in alliances with foreign powers, and not in the covenantal promises of Yahweh. They only seemed to remember Him when times grew dark, and they called out to Him in desperation (verse 2), but it was too late.

Their consciences were seared.  Evil, over time, had blunted their moral radar and their enemies, who  said what the Israelites wanted to hear, now were facing destruction by the very people they thought were in their national corner. The conscience of a large number of Israelites was seared. 

What is a seared conscience? How is what the Israelites degraded into possessing relevant to us? 

The Bible is very clear on what a seared conscience is. GotQuestions.org has an excellent definition:

The Bible speaks of a seared conscience in 1 Timothy 4:2. The conscience is the God-given moral consciousness within each of us (Romans 2:15). If the conscience is “seared”—literally “cauterized”—then it has been rendered insensitive. Such a conscience does not work properly; it’s as if “spiritual scar tissue” has dulled the sense of right and wrong. Just as the hide of an animal scarred with a branding iron becomes numb to further pain, so the heart of an individual with a seared conscience is desensitized to moral pangs. [2] 

Let's look at those verses and apply them to the Israelites:

Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead. (1 Timothy 4:1-3)

Kings. Princes.  False prophets.  Lay leaders.  All had worked to lead the people astray into idolatry and into dismissing Yahweh as sufficient for their national and spiritual lives. Their consciences were seared and they led the people to the same place.  

Our consciences are our moral compass.  Without it, we lose our way and become seduced by all sorts of lies.  Those lies, believed and then lived out, will blunt our conscience  The more blunted we are, the more we are deceived.  It's a vicious cycle and the Israelites were in it, much to their peril.  That is why Hosea was speaking to them: They needed a shake up to wake up. A seared conscience can be made tender and sensitive once again to the things of God, but we have to humble ourselves, and ask God for His touch.  

God saw the Israelites' hearts and their refusal to turn from their wicked ways. He was saying, "Game over."   

Israel has built many altars to take away sin,
but these very altars became places for sinning!
Even though I gave them all my laws,
they act as if those laws don’t apply to them.
The people love to offer sacrifices to me,
feasting on the meat,
but I do not accept their sacrifices.
I will hold my people accountable for their sins,
and I will punish them.
They will return to Egypt.
Israel has forgotten its Maker and built great palaces,
and Judah has fortified its cities.
Therefore, I will send down fire on their cities
and will burn up their fortresses. (11-14) 

We are no different today. I fear our consciences have been seared by deception.  We allow the culture to dominate God's divine discourse. We have traded our liberty for security born of the world's approval, and we think we can live a life predicated on what we think it is right.

We do so at our peril. 

[1] https://www.populismstudies.org/Vocabulary/big-lie/

[2] https://www.gotquestions.org/seared-conscience.html

Hosea, Part XIV

I don't know about you, but by the end of the sixth chapter, I would have been done with both Israel and Judah. 

Enough warning, I'd say.  You deserve what is coming to you. I gave you mercy, but you returned rebuke.  I gave you forgiveness, but you gave me forgetfulness. I gave you life, but you chose lies. Enough.

But I am not God. 

I can only ponder eternity.

But God dwells in eternity.  

I can only ponder the grief and anguish God feels towards His people who have prostituted themselves away from His love and care.

But God dwells in His grief.

I can only ponder His anger, relating to how I would feel if those I love cast away my love and debauched themselves in a whirlwind of lies and deception.

But God dwells in His righteous indignation. 

God says, "I want to heal Israel, but its sins are too great." (7:1) 

God could leave it at that, and His people would either (1) ignore Him (2) minimize His concerns, thinking He's overreacting (3) attack His prophet, wanting him to just shut up (4) feel a tiny bit guilty but would carry on nonetheless (5) spout practical reasons why sin is OK and God just doesn't get it (6) all of the above.

It would appear that #6 is the correct answer. 

But God dwells in righteousness and will not brook sin in any shape or form.

Then God lists, through Hosea, all of the sins that are "too great." God is very clear about what He is doing; He will not ignore what is happening with His people: 

Its people don’t realize 

   that I am watching them.
Their sinful deeds are all around them,
   and I see them all. (7:2) 

Here we go:

• The king and his princes all think that what the people are doing is entertaining
• The people are always on fire with lust
• The princes drink and then hang out with those who "mock them" 
• These people are always plotting and planning intrigue and will one day go after their leaders and kill them

("And no one cries to Me for help," v.7)

• The people weaken their strength by cavorting with foreign gods, 

("Their arrogance testifies against them, yet they don't return to the LORD their God or even try to find Him," v. 10)

• The people look to pagan leaders for security

("I will punish them for all they do," v.12) 

God is lamenting the sorrow that awaits those who have deserted Him; He wants to redeem them, but they lie about Him. They "do not cry out to Me with sincere hearts," (v. 14)  In their woe, they instead do pagan rituals to enlist the help of pagan gods for their survival and forget it is God who made them strong and provided for them: "They look everywhere except to the Most High," (v. 16)

What is the result of this repudiation of God and His covenant relationship with His people?  They will die by their enemies and Egypt --the strong pagan power that it is--"will laugh at them."

Thus closes chapter 7.  God is very specific in His list of what the people are doing to betray Him: whoring after pagan gods; enlisting foreign kings for protection and living lives that are utterly contrary to everything that God's covenant and law stands for.  The people are in spiritual disarray, having bought the lie that pagan gods and foreign power are what they need.

But God dwells in truth.

Always has.  

Then, one day, God comes and dwells in flesh:

 
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it... 

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. (John 1:1-5 & 14)

Then God embodies (literally and figuratively) the truth:

“You are a king then?” Pilate asked.
“You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied.
“I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” (John 18:37)

I find it fascinating that Jesus speaks this to a pagan power. A life, a faith and a society not predicated on God's truth will lust after pleasure, power and prestige.

 

Hosea speaks the word.

Jesus becomes the Word.

Hosea points to God and His righteousness.

Jesus becomes God's righteousness.

Hosea comes to point his people back to life in God.

Jesus comes to be life in God.

God comes closer and closer to His sinful children, and then one day, dwells among them, in righteousness and truth.  

How can we ever say that God is harsh, wrath-filled and angry, full of judgment and a willingness to punish His children?

Christ comes to prove that God is kind, forgiving and loving, full of redemption and a willingness to bring back His children to His side.

Oh, and one more thing: the side that He draws us back to?  

Look: It has a scar.

 

Hosea, Part XIII

It's interesting that the prophet is now talking about both Israel and Judah at the end of chapter 6. 

Did Judah think they would slip the noose because the Temple was in their midst?  That the City of David was in their land?  

Why do we think we are the exception?  We look around at everyone else who are doing the same things we are and yet we convince ourselves that judgement won't happen to us, because ___________________ (name your favorite exception).

Why do we think that God's judgement is limited to "those people"? Isn't that perhaps the greatest sin of the Pharisees, thinking that because they were (in their own estimation) truly righteousness and everyone else had fallen short, that they wouldn't come under God's holy scrutiny?

But Jesus laid that notion to rest when He said, "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:20)

The Pharisees thought that their utter devotion to the Law in terms of adherence is what mattered most. But the Law was a way to shepherd God's people, so that they would role model what God demanded of all of humanity. The Israelites were to be a blessing to all nations, not to just themselves. They were to model a godly society, based on a moral code that honored God and humanity. 

The Pharisees forgot the human element of the Law--not just rituals but a relationship with God and with other people. 

The Law wasn't a barrier but a bridge to pleasing God by loving Him with all of our heart, mind and soul. We just read in Hosea how God said, "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. (6:6). 

Jesus repeated these same verses when He dined with "those people": 

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matt. 9:13) 

Ironically, we love to cite John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." This is a verse that speaks to how the gift of salvation in Christ was not intended for any one group, but for everyone. 

But we are less incline to quote 2 Corinthians 5:10: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."

If salvation, in Christ, came to everyone, then judgement will as well. 

Israel (literally and figuratively) may go down first, but Judah (literally and figuratively) will be right behind her. 

But what about the people in both Israel and Judah who loved the Lord, followed Him with all their heart, mind and soul, and were aghast at what they saw their fellow Jews doing?  I don't think Hosea was the only person who was angry and saddened by how far the northern kingdom had fallen.  There were people who grieved about how her kings were corrupt, the people idolatrous and their love for God and His Law subsumed under utterly immoral practices that had nothing in common with His love and Law.

Love and Law.  Hmmm.  The two are expressed most beautifully in the Ten Commandments.  The first four laws are about God and the other six are about how a person should treat others.

The love of God is expressed in how we worship and act in His name but equally in how we treat one another. The Pharisees thought they'd nailed it because they followed the Law carefully and methodically. They had forgotten the other way the Law is expressed, by treating others in a loving way with compassion.  

Hosea says at the end of chapter 6 and on into the first few verses of chapter 7: 

I have seen a horrible thing in Israel:

There Ephraim is given to prostitution,

Israel is defiled.
Also for you, Judah,
a harvest is appointed. (6:10-11) 

God wants restoration, and not judgement, above all else. But in order to restore us, our sin must be revealed:  

Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,

whenever I would heal Israel,

the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.
They practice deceit,
thieves break into houses,
bandits rob in the streets;
but they do not realize
that I remember all their evil deeds.
Their sins engulf them;
they are always before me. (Hosea 6:11, 7:1-2) 

This is why Jesus is so beautiful:  He is the Great Physician, for He sees sin as a kind of illness.  Interesting to note that the word in Greek for "saved" (sozo) is also the word for "healed."  As John Mark Comer comments in Practicing the Way: 

Because salvation is a kind of healing…it’s about having your soul healed by God’s loving touch. Salvation is not just getting back on the right side of God’s mercy through judicial acquittal; it’s about having your soul healed by God’s loving touch. Ironically, the same sin that keeps us from relationship with God can be healed only by God. Yet again, we need to be saved…And the beginning of our healing/salvation is what Christians call ‘confession’…It’s about courageously naming your woundedness and wickedness in the presence of loving community as you journey together toward wholeness…God is the physician; we’re the patient. All we can do is set our sin in his light. His job is to deal with our sin; our job is to confess our secrets…The journey to healing begins with naming your illness…” [1] 

He then gives us a wonderful quote by James Baldwin: “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” [2]

That is why Hosea was prophesying in the first place.  God, though him, was diagnosing the illness that plagued the heart of the people: sin.  God sought to restore the people, who would die (literally and figuratively) if they were not restored by God's healing touch.  

The diagnosis may have seemed harsh to the people but God was (and still is) not in the business of sugar-coating the things we don't want to hear.  In fact, God is quite the opposite. He is direct and forceful when He is diagnosing the severity and the lethality of our condition.  

Jesus made it clear the truth above all else is what leads to restoration: 

Then Pilate said, “So, are you a king or not?” Jesus answered, “You tell me. Because I am King, I was born and entered the world so that I could witness to the truth. Everyone who cares for truth, who has any feeling for the truth, recognizes my voice.” (John 18:37 MSG)

What was true in Hosea's day is equally applicable to every century that has rolled on past, including ours:

This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is. (John 3:19 MSG)

What was true for Israel and Judah long ago still applies. God is the same, yesterday, today and forever, and so is His call for loving Him, one another and and being obedient to His ways. 

We seek healing, and He offers us the truth and the Truth.   

[1] John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way, pp. 95-96

[2] John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way, p. 96

 

 

 

 

Hosea, Part XII

Here we go.  We are exploring Hosea, chapter 6.  We have just heard the voice of Hosea himself, telling the people that despite God having judged them, He is all about bandaging their wounds and restoring them.

After the correction, comes the love. 

After the love?  Exasperation:

“O Israel and Judah,
what should I do with you?” asks the Lord.
“For your love vanishes like the morning mist
and disappears like dew in the sunlight.
I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—
to slaughter you with my words,
with judgments as inescapable as light.
I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
more than I want burnt offerings.
But like Adam, you broke my covenant
and betrayed my trust." (6:6-7) 

What kills our relationship with God?  

Rituals without relationship. 

Rituals without realty.

When the people in Israel and Judah were not engaged in rituals with the Canaanite gods, they were just going through the motions with the Mosaic requirements. They were doing the rituals without wanting to know who God was.  They were not interested in a relationship with Him. 

A relationship causes us to engage in introspection: Am I truly loving this person to the best of my ability?  Am I being hypocritical--saying one thing and then doing another--or am I being sincere in all I do, even if I don't always get it right?

Equally, when the people thought they could accommodate both--God and the gods--their grasp of reality was deeply deluded.  God made it clear they could not serve both: Light and darkness could not and should not mix.  They recreated a new reality of following God: a spiritual adultery that they thought God would turn a blind eye to.  They reasoned that God would understand and forgive them  because they were His chosen people. They considered that God didn't mind as much as the prophets said He did, and that He was more open than He was made out to be.  Surely, He must have understood how the people wanted to serve the gods of the land they were in, due to its abundance and if they wanted that to continue, they needed to join their neighbors. 

To them, all of this was obvious.  It wasn't sin, it was survival. 

Really?

When people have an adulterous affair, they are not prioritizing the relationship with their spouse.  Perhaps, due to repeated lapses in making their marriage the most important thing in their lives, the relationship no longer holds sway over what they say and do.  They also have deluded themselves that  they deserve to be happy; their spouse doesn't really care anymore about the marriage; the children will be happier if the parents stopped fighting and finally, why not?  A lot of people have affairs, and the sky doesn't fall in.

God was grieving how His prophets' words couldn't penetrate the people's stony hearts.  God wasn't about the rituals--He wanted their sincere love. He wanted them to know Him and know Him well.  

Their spiritual adultery elicited two emotions in God: He was deeply angry that they had defied the King of the Universe and He was devastated at their wanton breaking of the covenant that was akin to a marriage.

God's anger doesn't surprise us.  He had every right to be incensed by their horrible rituals for the Canaanite gods and their disregard for human life.  But if you have heard people say that the God of the Old Testament is a harsh God, and is only concerned with judgement, the next verses show us why that belief is wrong: 

“O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you, 

though I wanted to restore the fortunes of my people.

Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood. 

Priests form bands of robbers,

waiting in ambush for their victims.

They murder travelers along the road to Shechem 

and practice every kind of sin. 

Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel:

My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods!

O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you,

though I wanted to restore the fortunes of my people." (6:8-11)

When the people broke the covenant with God and violated His trust (verse 7), it was because the leaders were aiding and abetting the people's disobedience by doing so themselves. The commandments, given by Moses, were a visible manifestation of the covenant relationship between God and His people.  If the priests themselves broke the law, they were being a contemptible role model, because they gave sin a kind of respectability: If the priests don't tell us to stop, well, why not keep going?  They don't seem to care. Why should I? 

Had Judah pointed to Israel to justify their sin, saying that the northern kingdom was getting away with pagan practices?  

Had Israel pointed to Judah to justify their sin, saying that the southern kingdom was getting away with pagan practices? 

Had they both insisted that God couldn't be all that angry because nothing had happened? All that doom and gloom was just the rantings and raving of a misguided prophet?  Didn't the prophet say that God want to "restore the fortunes of His people"? 

This argues that God was (and is not) harsh, vengeful and perpetually angry at human beings:  He was (and still is) waiting for our repentance.

But isn't that the very sin in our hearts that makes us blame Him when His judgment finally falls?  

Do you hear a distant echo here?  Do the words, "Did God really say?" come floating back?  That God is not trustworthy?  That He doesn't mean what He says?  That He doesn't say what He means? 

These lies have dogged humanity since the Garden. 

We ignore God's words and then when our lives fall apart, we echo Adam: "It was the woman you gave me..."  In other words: It's your fault, God.  Without ___________, I wouldn't have sinned.

Then we echo the words of Eve: "The serpent deceived me."  In other words: I am not at fault here. I was deceived...

This is why He sent His prophets.  He wanted His children to be fully appraised of what He expected of them, and what the consequences were if they disobeyed.  

He also wanted His children to hear His grief and hurt that His children, after all He's lovingly done for them, have turned away and ignored Him in heart and in deed. 

If God were truly irresponsible and capricious as Satan insinuates He is, humanity would have ended in the Garden, right then and there, about two minutes after God questioned our Parents. 

But God has stood by His errant and arrogant children, with warning and waiting, and a heart that  deeply wanted their repentance.  

He still warns.  

He still waits. 

 

Hosea Part XI

 I want Scripture to drive this blog.  I could take a few verses here and there, and have them be the theme of what I write.  But Scripture is more nuanced than that.  Yes, there are driving themes, but there is also commentary, asides and quick observations to the theme before the writer returns to it.  That is why I like to look at whole passages. 

Let's continue with chapter 6 of Hosea.  We hear the Lord speaking in this book, as it should be--prophecy is when the Lord speaks--but sometimes the prophet's voice is heard.  He pleads with the people to listen to what the Lord is saying. Hosea feels the full weight and import of what the Lord is saying.  He is blowing the trumpet, if you will, and is exerting all of his strength to have it be loud and clear. 

But remember, heavy is the weight of the message the messenger must bear.  He not only gets the message first, he can sense, way before the the people hear it, that God will bring either restoration or judgement and He means what He says. The people can ignore the prophet if they choose, but the prophet cannot ignore the people. 

But he also knows that he will be swept along with the events he is foretelling. The prophet is not just speaking to the people; he is part of the people. The prophet is innocent, but not so the people he speaks to.  And so he warns.     

Perhaps a good analogy to this is there are many people in America who are deeply disturbed by what is going on in this country.  They pray for America, and want to see the moral decline slow down or better yet, recede altogether.  But if God's judgement falls (and I believe it will) then those who are faithful to God will be swept right along with it. God's church is at its strongest when evil is at its worst.  People such as Corrie Ten Boom, whose family hid Jewish people during World War II, is a good example.  When the Germans invaded the Netherlands, Corrie's family started hiding Jewish people who came to their house. Eventually, they were betrayed and the family was arrested.  Corrie and her sister were sent to Ravensbruck, a notorious concentration camp for women in Germany.  

The sisters suffered terribly but were able to share their faith and love with the inmates. Corrie survived; her sister did not. 

These women suffered along with everyone else. The world needed their light.   

Jesus compares us to light.  What is the purpose of light except to drive away darkness?  If we hide our light--as Jesus taught us not to do--then the darkness wins.  The light is an argument against the darkness and whenever people act as light, they are reminding the world that the darkness need not take over--it can be driven out.  

The words of Hosea, too, were light, driving out the darkness of lies by God's truth.  

The darkness doesn't want the light and avoids it whenever possible. Jesus testifies to His own ministry as being one that challenges the darkness: 

"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." (John 3:19-21)

Prophets were the candle-bearers of God's light. They were not just leaders in the fight for light but were participants as well. Hosea's marriage is a good example of this: He was told to marry a prostitute to exemplify the infidelity of the Israel.  He had children with her.  His domestic catastrophe spoke to the national catastrophe that was all around him. He suffered so the people would not have to.  But they did not listen.

Here we hear the prophet's own voice:

“Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces;
now he will heal us.
He has injured us;
now he will bandage our wounds.
In just a short time he will restore us,
so that we may live in his presence.
Oh, that we might know the Lord!
Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
or the coming of rains in early spring.” (6:1-3) 

Notice how Hosea says, "us."  He is not just standing by while all this judgement like mighty waters rolls down--he is part of it.  This is where his humility shines through.  He could have said,

Come on, Lord, bring it on!  I am not going to these temples, cavorting with prostitutes or bowing my knee to Baal.  No.  I am standing strong in my faith.  I was even obedient to You when You asked me to marry Gomer--much to my dismay.  But I did it.  I am not like those people! I love and serve You and they get what they deserve. But I know you will spare me."

No.  Hosea knew that while his sin might not be anywhere near as egregious as his fellow Jews, he was not free from sin.  

None of us are.  That is why humility is so essential as we walk in Christ. No, I may not be doing what you're doing.  No, my sin may not so obvious as yours, so I can get away with it better than you.  But at the end of the day, we are all sinners. We all deserve to be swept away under the judgment of a loving and just God.  Yet He stays His hand.

Why?   

He wants us to repent. 

He gives us time to repent.

He tells how we must repent.

He warns what will happen if we do not repent.

He waits for us to repent.

Isaiah said it best: 

"Wash yourselves and be clean!
Get your sins out of my sight.
Give up your evil ways.
Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.

'Come now, let’s settle this,'
says the Lord.
'Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool.
If you will only obey me,
you will have plenty to eat.
But if you turn away and refuse to listen,
you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.
I, the Lord, have spoken!'” (1:16-20) 

Hosea looks at us and says, "Can I get an amen?"